Congo humanitarian operations hit hard by Trump aid pause, says UN official

12/2/2025 6:47

A U.S. pause on foreign aid has had a "major impact" in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where humanitarian operations last year were 70% funded by Washington, the top U.N. aid official in the country said on Tuesday.



Bruno Lemarquis said that in 2024 the U.N. humanitarian response plan for DRC received $1.3 billion, of which $910 million came from the United States. He said that since U.S. President Donald Trump imposed a pause on foreign aid last month, some programs have had to shut down.



The move came amid a dramatic escalation of a decade-old insurgency in eastern Congo that has fanned fears of a broader regional war and displaced hundreds of thousands of people.